TOW: The Bings and The Gellers
by iluvfriendsus
Summary: Features R & R and C & M and their kids. FINAL CHAPTER! It's all finished!
1. TOW Rachel steals someone's thunder

The FRIENDS characters do not belong to me. They belong to Bright, Kauffman, and Krane. I wrote this story solely for entertainment purposes.  
  
"Sierra Karen Bing," Chandler watched his oldest daughter go across the stage to receive her MS graduation certificate. A lump formed in his throat. His little Sisi- so much like his Monica- was growing up fast.  
  
He felt Monica squeeze his hand and smiled up at her. She was crying so he brushed her tears away with his hand.  
  
"Ewwww," their youngest daughter Taylor cried. "Why do you guys always have to do gross things in public?" Chandler and Monica just rolled their eyes at their new pubescent daughter and went back to watching the ceremony.  
  
Chandler's mind wandered to his favorite memories of Sierra- he could still remember the day she was born. It had been a peaceful November night until Monica woke up screaming, "Ow Baby! Ow Baby!" He laughed to himself when he remembered how he had completely freaked out and even went to the hospital without Monica. The sounds of screaming brought Chandler sharply back to reality.  
  
Rachel was grasping her pregnant stomach and screaming. Monica immediately jumped up and started heading Rachel toward the exit. "Chandler, go find Ross he's up front somewhere with the video camera," Monica looked at Taylor and her middle daughter Madison "You girls get up there and tell your sister what is going on! Maddi! Taylor! NOW!!!" Both girls sprung into action.  
  
As Madison approached the platform Sierra hissed at her " Maddi get away from here! You are going to be embarrass me!"  
  
"Aunt Rachel just went into labor-"  
  
"NO!" Sierra screamed, "How dare she? This is supposed to be my day- my moment!" She gasped when she realized that everyone in the room had grown silent and was staring at her.  
  
Chandler glared at all three girls and they followed him and their Uncle Ross out to the car. When they had all gotten in the car Ross turned and looked at Sierra, "Monic- I mean Sierra can you please not mention to Aunt Rachel anything about stealing your thunder? She's already unhappy about this baby."  
  
Sierra looked down at her feet, "Sorry, Uncle Ross, sure I won't mention it. But how come people keep calling me Monica?"  
  
"You are just so much like your Mom," Chandler smiled at her.  
  
Sierra smiled back at him. She loved her Dad so much they were as close as a father/daughter could get. She had often heard him tell her she was so much like her Mother. She was built like Monica, had her dark hair, her smile and her love of neatness. There was very little of Chandler in her. Her sisters were different, on the other hand. Madison looked so much Dad it was uncanny. Her bangs even parted the same way and she was always cracking jokes whether it was good time or not! Taylor was kind of the mix in the family with a little bit of both parents and a whole lot of herself. She was blonde, which definitely wasn't inherited from either parent, and was quiet and reserved. Except for her new puberty phase where everything their parents did was gross, she rarely had a bad thing to say about or to anyone.  
  
They pulled into the front of the hospital and Ross dived out of the car and ran in the door. It was easy to find his wife; he could hear her screaming all the way down the hall. When he got in the room Monica smiled meekly at him and mouthed "She's not OK."  
  
Ross went over to Rachel and kissed her forehead. He grasped her hand in his, "How you doing Rach?"  
  
"Don't you even try and take that Johnny Soldier out of your pants ever again, you hear me?! He's officially retired Ross Geller!"  
  
"Rach, you know you don't mean that-"  
  
"Want to bet? Owwwww!" she screamed. The Doctor came in and looked at Rachel's chart  
  
"Okay, Mrs. Geller are you ready to meet your new son or daughter?"  
  
"Only if you promise me I never have to do this again. I'm too old for this."  
  
The Doctor smiled at her "I'm going to get a nurse to help you get prepped."  
  
"Oh Lord, Monica, I can't believe I let him touch me again! Ow!!! Like having two boys for him wasn't good enough! No!!! He just flashes those puppy dog eyes and I give in like such a sucker."  
  
"I know," Monica said "Men just don't appreciate how much we go through to have their children."  
  
"HELLO! I am standing right here!" Ross interrupted.  
  
Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, and the kids are all waiting in the waiting room. Chandler feels a small tug on his arm seven year-old Travis eyes him cautiously. "Uncle Chandler, is my Mommy going to die?"  
  
"No, Travis she's going to be just fine. She's just having a baby. You want to sit with me until your Dad comes?" Travis crawled up into his lap willingly.  
  
Meanwhile in the labor room Rachel is pushing "Ohhh this hurts like hell! Ross I am so serious don't you ever EVER touch me again!"  
  
Ross squeezed her hand and said "After going through this four times with a woman I don't think I have any sexual desires left."  
  
Rachel screamed louder and gritted her teeth, "Any chance you had left just went bye-bye."  
  
Ross smirked at her and then drew his hand out of hers "OWWW! Do you have to squeeze the crap out of my hand?"  
  
The Doctor said, "Okay, Rachel, the baby's head has crowned so I need you to take a big breath and with the next contraction you are going to give me a really big push ok?"  
  
"I can't, oh my Gosh, I can't" Rachel moaned.  
  
Monica grabbed Rachel's right hand and Ross grabbed her left. "Okay Rachel, here comes the contraction. Big push!"  
  
Rachel yelled and pushed with all her might. And in a few seconds a loud, lusty baby's cry filled the room. "Congratulations! It's a girl!" the Doctor said as he handed Rachel her daughter, "big and healthy!"  
  
"Oh!" Rachel took one look at the tiny little bundle and burst into tears "Ross, sweetie, come here and look at her, she is just the most beautiful-"  
  
"Oh, so now I am sweetie?" he asked.  
  
"Don't push it!"  
  
"Oh, she is beautiful! Ross exclaims "Oh Rach, I love you so much!"  
  
"Look at what we did honey," she smiled at him as he leaned in to kiss her. Monica chose this moment to quietly slip out of the room.  
  
She made her way into the waiting area. Both of her nephews pounced on her "Is Mom ok? Is Dad with her? Is it a boy?"  
  
"It's a girl! You boys have a sister!"  
  
"Great! A girl!" fifteen year-old Nick sighed.  
  
"A sister! A sister!" Travis was running around the room singing and dancing.  
  
Chandler came and put his arm around Monica "You wanna go for number four? She asked sexily making him turn to putty on the inside.  
  
"As tempting as it is," he kissed her deeply, "and it is tempting- Hell no!"  
  
Monica punched him playfully and went and sat in between her daughters. "Sierra I am so sorry about you and the rest of us having to miss your ceremony. I know it must be very disappointing for you."  
  
"It's okay Mom. How's Aunt Rachel? Knowing her she got pretty mad at Uncle Ross in there."  
  
Monica chuckled "Yeah she did. Terrible pain brings out the worst in the best of us. She'll forgive him pretty quickly."  
  
Ross entered the room beaming. "I have a beautiful 8 pound 1 ounce baby girl! Who would have thought after three boys we would have an accident baby and it would be a girl! A girl! I am so happy!"  
  
"Hey dude weren't all your kids accidents?" Joey joked.  
  
"Ben wasn't- anyway I am so happy!" Ross said.  
  
Everyone went over to congratulate and hug him. Ross scooped up Travis and put his hand on nick's shoulder, "Do you want to go see your Mom and sister?"  
  
"Yeah, sure, whatever." Nick said.  
  
Ross took them into the room. Rachel smiled at them when they came in. "Hi guys! Oh come here and give me hugs." She reached her arms out to them. Travis ran into them gladly and hugged her tight. Bur Nick stayed away just glared at her and finally said "Mom, you look like hell!"  
  
Without thinking Ross grabbed him hard by the shoulders "Don't you ever let me hear you say something like that to your Mother again She's just had a baby. Now you show her some respect-"  
  
"Fine yeah whatever" Nick said as he stormed out of the room and bumped into his Aunt Monica on the way out.  
  
Ross stuck his head out the door and yelled "Nicholas Ross Geller we are going to have a talk about this when we get home!"  
  
Nick ran out of the hospital and into the warm spring air. He stood there fighting back both his tears and his anger. Suddenly Phoebe was standing net to him "What's up Nick?"  
  
Nick just ignored her avoiding her concerned stare. "Nothing just didn't want my parents to have another kid. I mean it's like every seven or eight years they decide to do it and she gets knocked up."  
  
Phoebe stared at him in utter shock not sure how to respond to this outburst. She loved this kid so much, like one of her own but yet she also knew he wasn't and she would have to choose her response carefully. "Nick honey, what is this really about?'  
  
Nick started to cry "I already told you Pheebs I am mad at my-" he broke into sobs "myself. I am mad at myself! Jessie's pregnant. And I am so friggin scared and watching Mom and Dad today makes me sad because I know have disappointed them so much and because I didn't want to have a baby with her, it just sorta happened."  
  
Phoebe hugged him tightly to her " Oh honey don't cry. It'll work out I promise," she soothed.  
  
Rachel tried to hide the pain on her face when Monica and Chandler came in the room. "What the hell was that all about?" she asked.  
  
Ross patted her on the shoulder " I don't know honey, I just don't know."  
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	2. TOW Ross and Rachel find out

TOW Ross and Rachel find out  
  
Once again, these characters do not belong to me. They belong to the creators of Friends.  
  
In our previous chapter Rachel had just given birth and Nick had just stormed out of the hospital room visibly upset about something. We pick up where we left off only it is two days later.  
  
  
  
Ross opened the door to their apartment and smiled as Chandler, Monica, their nieces and their sons jump out from the closet and yell "Surprise!"  
  
"Welcome home Lauren Rachel Geller! My beautiful little niece." Monica cried and ran over to hug Rachel and the baby.  
  
Soon everyone was clamoring over to get a look at the newest little Geller.  
  
Ross whispered something in Rachel's ear. She smiled at him knowingly and nodded. He kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose, and then deep on the mouth.  
  
From the corner of the room Nick grunted and said menacingly "Hey Mom, isn't that how you got knocked up?"  
  
Everyone froze in shock. Ross felt the blood come into his face as he turned into Red Ross. "That's it!" he stormed towards Nick "I have had all I can take! You had better watch that hateful mouth! You have ruined your sister's homecoming. You have been acting like a spoiled child!"  
  
"Whose fault is that?" Nick snapped.  
  
Before Ross could even stop himself he smacked Nick in the mouth. Everyone just stood there staring at the father and son, mouths dropped in disbelief. Nick grasped his mouth and stared at his father with hate in his eyes.  
  
"Nick, honey, why don't you come with me to your room and we can talk about what's bothering you?" Rachel coaxed.  
  
"Go to hell Mom!" Nick threw his glass on the floor and fled the house slamming the door so hard the windows rattled.  
  
Everyone just stood there for a moment trying to decide what to do. Finally, Rachel put a smile on her face and said, "Maybe we could Lauren her room." They were all relieved for the distraction and they spent the next few hours getting to know Lauren Geller. Rachel and Ross were both very worried about Nick, and they kept casting glances at each other from across the room.  
  
Soon Chandler, Monica and the girls were ready to go home for dinner. Monica went over and gave Rachel a hug "Honey you'll figure out what's bugging him- it's just not like him to talk to you like that. And it's certainly not like Ross to hit him."  
  
"I am so worried, Mon. What am I going to do?" Rachel started to cry. "I have a brand new baby at 44 years old, I have like a 100 stitches there, it's been like 10 years since Ross and I have done stuff, and my now oldest son just told me to go to hell."  
  
Monica could tell Rachel was starting to get the baby blues and that the added stress was only making things worse. "Look, Rach, why don't you let us take Travis tonight? That way when Nick gets home you can talk to him."  
  
"Oh, Mon, I've already had two nights away from Travis."  
  
"Rachel, do you really want Travis here for World War III when Nick comes home?"  
  
"Oh alright." She hollered to Travis, "Travis, go get your jimmies and go with Aunt Monica and Uncle Chandler you are going to stay with them tonight."  
  
"YEAH! Can Taylor paint my toenails again?"  
  
Taylor groaned, "Forget it twerp. I am too mature for you now."  
  
"Aww please," Travis begged her as he went into his room and got his things.  
  
Within a few minutes Ross, Rachel, and Lauren were completely alone in their apartment. Lauren was asleep in the crib in her room and Ross and Rachel were snuggled on the couch.  
  
"Ross I am trying to make sense of what happened this afternoon."  
  
"I know, Rach, I know. For God's sake I slapped him. I just couldn't take him talking about you like that. Like you are some kind of tramp. No wife of mine is a tramp."  
  
Rachel kissed him, "Defending my honor, huh?"  
  
"Til I die." Ross leaned in for another kiss. Their kisses began to heat up just as Nick walked in.  
  
"Figures," he slammed himself down on the couch next to them. "You two are always making out."  
  
Rachel touched his shoulder and tried not to notice his flinch at her touch, "Sweetie, your Dad and I love each other very much."  
  
"Yeah! Yeah! Well you don't have to love someone to have sex with them. You can get caught up in the moment and just give into your raging hormones-"  
  
"Nick are you trying to tell us something? Because whatever it is we will listen and we will still love you."  
  
"If Dad doesn't like what I have to say is he going to slap me again?"  
  
"Look Nick, I am sorry about that." Ross said, "I just can't have anyone talking  
  
about your Mom that way- especially not her son."  
  
"Yeah okay, whatever." Nick said his eyes were on the floor "Jessie's pregnant," he barely whispered.  
  
Ross' jaw dropped and tears filled Rachel's eyes. "What did you just say? Did you just say- is it yours?"  
  
Nick just looked at the floor.  
  
"Answer me Nicholas! Is it yours?"  
  
"Yeah it's mine." Nick broke down. Rachel's instinct was to hug him. Ross wanted to beat the crap out of him. Neither of them followed their instincts- they freaked out.  
  
"How could you? Haven't we talked about safe sex? How you should really wait until you're married." Rachel was sobbing now.  
  
"Yeah, like either of you did that." Nick said hatefully. "You two only got married because Dad knocked you up."  
  
"That's not true, Nick, your Mom and I have always loved each other. Having you just brought us back together."  
  
"Well at least you two have some feelings for each other-" Nick was sobbing now. "Jessie and I just got caught in the moment. She wanted to make Ryan jealous and I fell for it. I was so stupid and now what do I do?"  
  
Rachel took him in her arms and stroked his hair in comfort. Tears were streaming down her face. Ross was standing in front of them and he looked like he was angry but also very sad. Rachel began to rock Nick in her arms like a baby. "We'll figure it out, Nick. We'll figure it out." 


	3. TOW Sierra's Date and Jessie's Parents

TOW Sierra's Date and Jessie's Parents  
  
Once again, these characters do not belong to me but to Kaufman, Bright, and Crane.  
  
In our previous chapter Nick had told his parents that he was going to become a father. In the continuation of our story, the Geller family is trying to cope with this news and figure out how it will change all of their lives..  
  
Sierra checked her reflection in the mirror again. She fixed her lipstick again and sighed. It was a perfect as it was going to get. Her Mom opened the door "Hey Sisi, Justin is here. You might want to get out there cause he's alone with your Dad."  
  
"Oh geesh! He'll never want to go out with me again." Sierra burst into the living room and put on her best "Monica" smile. "Hi Justin are you ready to go?"  
  
"Hey Sierra you look hot-" he saw Chandler eyeing him "nice. You look nice."  
  
Chandler started to lecture them about staying with the group, not touching, and having her home by ten o'clock. Sierra groaned and rushed out the door.  
  
Monica slid her arms around Chandler's neck and kissed him passionately. "That is because you love our girls so much." She deepened the kiss and moved her hands up his shirt, "and this is because I love you so much." They fell onto the floor in the heat of passion.  
  
Sierra and Justin were in his car driving to the bowling party. "So are the rumors true?" he asked.  
  
"What rumors?" Sierra asked cautiously.  
  
"About your cousin Nick Geller, he is your cousin isn't he?"  
  
"Yeah, why?"  
  
"Cause is everybody is saying that he slept with Jessie Moore and she's pergnant with his kid."  
  
"WHAT???" Sierra was horrified.  
  
"Well, is it true?"  
  
"I don't know- I don't- you know what suddenly I don't feel like going out please take me home."  
  
"Oh, c'mon Sierra it's just a rumor. I'm sure it isn't true. Don't let it get you down, I was just making conversation-"  
  
"Yeah well take me home NOW."  
  
Justin sighed and muttered "Big mouth!" under his breath and turned the car around.  
  
A few minutes later Sierra burst through the door of her apartment only to completely startle her parents who were still laying on the floor recovering. Chandler had only his boxer shorts on and Monica had only her shirt on it but was completely unbuttoned. Chandler jumped in surprise when the door opened. Sierra just looked at them and said, "When you two are decent come get me." She went into her room and quietly shut her door.  
  
Chandler and Monica quickly dressed both relieved that it had been Sierra who had found them. She was the only of their girls who didn't freak out about the idea of that her parent's had sex. Monica went into Sierra's room with Chandler close behind her.  
  
"Sierra, honey, what's wrong?"  
  
"Hey, did that punk sixteen year old kid try something?"  
  
"No it's not that. It's just he said something really horrible about Nick. He said that Nick got a girl pregnant."  
  
"What? Our Nick? Wha-"  
  
"That would explain some things," Monica muttered to herself.  
  
Sierra burst into tears and Chandler stayed to talk with her. Monica went to talk to Rachel.  
  
She knew as soon as Rachel opened the door it was true. Rachel's eyes were puffy and red. Ross didn't look much better.  
  
"Hey, Travis went for ice cream with Phoebe, Madi, and Taylor. Sierra had a date- and she heard something about Nick that I didn't think could be true. But I see that it is."  
  
"Come in Mon."  
  
The next few days were like a walking nightmare at the Geller house. Rachel cried some and took care of Travis and Lauren. Ross spent a lot of time with Nick trying to be there for him. They were both disappointed in their son.  
  
It got much worse when Jessie's parents found out. Mr. and Mrs. Moore paid a very unpleasant visit to the Geller household. They had some very unkind things to say about Nick Geller.  
  
"Look Mr. and Mrs. Moore, we know how very disappointed you are with this. I know Rachel and I are too. But we have told Nick that he has to own up to his responsibility. We will do whatever we can financially or any other way to help." Ross explained.  
  
"We do not need your money Dr. Geller!" Mr. Moore snapped, "just keep your son away from our daughter. He is not to call her, talk to her at school, or anything else."  
  
"But how can he take responsibility if you don't allow him to be a part of-"  
  
Mr. Moore interrupted "He's already done enough. Our family will handle this. His name is not to be mentioned by her and if she does keep this baby Nick is to have nothing to do with it. His name will not even be on the birth certificate."  
  
"Excuse, Mr. Moore," Rachel was trying not to get frustrated, "But if Jessie keeps this baby it will be our grandchild too. Is it really fair to ask us not to be involved in this child's life? Doesn't the child deserve to know both sides of its family? After all, we shouldn't punish the child for the sins of the parents."  
  
"Well you should have taught your son to keep it in his pants!"  
  
"Well, you listen here Mister! Your daughter was a willing partner in this! It is not like Nick forced her into something she didn't want to do. In fact, I understand that it was her idea!" Lauren let out a wail; Rachel touched Ross' arm and went to get her daughter.  
  
"Oh, is that one of Nick's kids? Does he do this to every girl he meets?"  
  
It was all Ross could do not to completely lose his temper. "No, dammit that's not Nick's baby. It's his baby sister. She belongs to Rachel and I."  
  
"Oh well no wonder he jumped into bed with our daughter he probably gets exposed to enough sex."  
  
"All right that's it! Get the hell out of my house! There's the door! Please come back when we can discuss this like the mature adults we are supposed to be. Our kids are having a baby, we don't need to act younger than them." And with that said Ross slammed the door on his guests.  
  
He went into the room where Rachel was feeding Lauren. Travis was sitting next to her on the bed reading her a book. "Rach, what are we going to do?" He stroked Lauren's head as she ate. "It's so hard to believe that our little Nicky made a baby." They just sat there for awhile both listening to Travis read lost in their own thoughts. 


	4. TOW Things Get Worse

Again, these characters do not belong to me but to the Creators of Friends. Well some of the characters belong to me. But Ross, Rachel, Joey, Phoebe, Chandler, and Monica belong to their creators- which wasn't me.  
  
In our last chapter, Sierra heard the rumor about Nick and Jessie that turned out to not be a rumor. Also, Ross and Rachel were paid a visit by Jessie's parents- a very unpleasant visit.  
  
For the next segment of our story we are going to go to four months later...  
  
TOW Things Get Worse  
  
Lauren is growing like a weed and Travis just celebrated his eighth birthday. Nick and Jessie are still forbidden by her parents to see or speak to each other.  
  
One night during dinner there was a knock on the Geller door. Ross opened it and greeted his nieces. "Hey Auntie Rachel, Uncle Ross can we hang out here for a while?" Taylor pleaded. "Mom and Dad are fighting again."  
  
"Sure c'mon in. Have your Mom and Dad been fighting a lot lately?"  
  
"Yeah, they have." Madison rolled her eyes, "You know how obsessive Mom gets sometimes-"  
  
"Nooooooo!" Rachel joked in her classic style.  
  
"Well anyway, Mom's obsessing about adopting a baby-" Madi crossed her arms in front of her chest "and let's just say that we have heard Dad say hell no like a jillion times this week."  
  
Ross and Rachel grinned at each other; "You can stay over here until your Mom comes looking for you."  
  
"Yeah! Where's Lauren?" The three of them went off in the direction of the youngest Geller's bedroom with Travis right behind them.  
  
"You know, Mrs. Geller?" Ross moved toward Rachel and kissed her neck "We haven't had any time alone since we brought home our lovely little daughter."  
  
Rachel started to get into his kisses, "Well maybe we should change that Dr. Geller" She found his lips with hers and they kissed passionately. Just as things really started to heat up they could hear Taylor's voice "EWWW! You guys are like grosser than my parents!"  
  
Ross and Rachel broke the kiss embarrassed. Rachel whispered in Ross' ear "To be continued Mr. Rachel."  
  
"You'd better believe it Mrs. Ross," he whispered back.  
  
The girls and Travis plopped down in front of the TV. Rachel offered her nieces sandwiches and popcorn and then started to clean up supper flirting with Ross with her eyes.  
  
He finally walked up behind her and said as low as possible, "You are so getting it tonight!"  
  
She moaned low in her throat, "I hope so!"  
  
About eight o'clock Monica knocked on the door. She glanced at Rachel said, "I take it my daughters are here?"  
  
"Yeah they are watching some videos. I made them sandwiches and popcorn."  
  
"Oh, thanks Rach. Listen, do you think we could go to lunch tomorrow? I could really use a good talk."  
  
"Sure that would be nice."  
  
"Great! I'll call you in the morning cause I can tell you two are dying to be alone." She laughed at Ross making the eyes at Rachel from across the room. "Sierra, Madi, Taylor let's go home."  
  
The girls ignored her and kept watching the videos. "Sierra Karen Bing! Madison Noelle Bing! Taylor Ellen Bing let's move now!" The girls continued to ignore their mother and made no moves toward the door." NOW!!!!" Monica shouted the girls sprung to their feet and ran out of the door before their Mother could yell at them some more. Monica winked at Ross and Rachel "You two kids have fun!"  
  
"Oh we will-" Ross looked sexily at his wife and she blushed.  
  
Once the door was shut and locked Ross walked over to Rachel and kissed her hungrily. "Ross- Ross" she broke the kiss "What about Travis? And Nick could be home any minute."  
  
Ross just leaned in and kissed her more passionately. "Travis fell asleep on the couch ten minutes ago and Nick said he would be home by ten o'clock so we have like-" kiss "two" deep kiss "hours. But just one question did you really mean what you said in the hospital about my Johnny Soldier being retired?"  
  
"Oh that!" Rachel slid her hand down his chest and undid his pants. She than began kissing his neck and unbuttoning his shirt. As it hit the floor she said, "Does this answer your question?"  
  
"Oh yeah!" Ross growled and they kissed all the way into their bedroom.  
  
A little over an hour later ( they were in the living room cuddling on the couch watching reruns of Mad About You. Nick came in the door shut it rather loudly and then kicked off his shoes.  
  
"Nicholas!" Ross warned, "Travis and Lauren are asleep. If you are going to come home this late and make this kind of noise I will make your curfew earlier."  
  
"Can it Dad!" Nick fell on the floor as he tried to come into the living room.  
  
"Oh my! Ross! He's drunk!" Rachel exclaimed. "Nick, where were you?"  
  
"I was out with Jeff."  
  
"Out where-"  
  
"None of your damn business!" Nick yelled, "I'm sure you're glad I was gone cause you guys got to be alone and probably did stuff."  
  
"Nicholas!!" Ross was very stern "I have three things to say to you. I advise that you just keep your mouth shut and listen. One; you are grounded from everything until further notice; no friends, no parties, no football and no driving test next month. Two, your amount of chores just increased since you will be spending so much more time at home. And three; I do not appreciate your comments about your Mother and mine's romantic life. That is a private issue between us that doesn't concern you."  
  
"It concerns me when I can HEAR it!"  
  
"Go to your room NOW NICK!"  
  
Nick stormed off and Ross said "Damnit that kid! I am going for a walk!" he slammed the door behind him.  
  
Rachel sighed she knew there was no use going after Ross when he was that ticked off. She picked up Travis who had somehow slept soundly through the incident and carried him into his room. Once he was tucked in bed, Lauren was starting to stir so she went into the nursery and changed and fed her little daughter. Once Lauren was fed and back asleep she went to check on Nick. He was passed out on his bed with his earphones blasting into his ears. Rachel shut off the stereo and threw a blanket over her son. "He is going to have one hell of a hang over in the morning." She thought to herself.  
  
She waited up a bit longer for Ross, but she finally gave up and went to bed herself. A few minutes later she heard the door open and then felt Ross slip into next her. "Good night Rach." He kissed her cheek.  
  
"Ross I think we need to talk. I don't like it when you go to sleep this angry."  
  
"Look Rachel, I am not in any condition to talk about this right now."  
  
"Not even to me?"  
  
"Not to anyone. I'm sorry honey; I'm just too pissed right now to think straight. I promise we'll talk about it tomorrow. I love you. Goodnight." He kissed her on the lips this time.  
  
"Night sweetie." Rachel turned away from him reluctantly. They both fell into a fitful sleep. 


	5. TOW The Big Decision

As always these characters do not belong to me except for all the kids! This story is not written for profit but purely for entertainment purposes.  
  
This chapter picks up exactly where the old one left off (TOW Things Get Worse) so you may want to read it first.  
  
  
  
TOW The Big Decision  
  
The next day at lunch with Monica, Rachel bore her soul. "What the hell did we do wrong Monica? He's completely out of control. He's coming home drunk, he got Jessie Moore pregnant. I just don't know what we are going to do with him. Nothing we do seems to work. And Ross is so tense with this. I know he blames himself. Geesh, Mon, I love them both so much and this is tearing me apart."  
  
Monica hugged her, "I know you do Rach. They are both lucky to have you. Just a suggestion; why don't you send Nick to stay with Mom and Dad for awhile?"  
  
"As in Mom and Dad Geller? They are getting a little old for that aren't they?"  
  
"They would love it. It would be good for them- for Nick and for you. You could all use a break from each other and the stress this situation has put you in. I'm sure the sexual tension between you and Ross is building up."  
  
"Yeah once since we've brought Lauren home."  
  
"Once in four months? This is you and Ross we are talking about here. No wonder he is so stressed out."  
  
"We both are. I mean we have a belligerent son and a brand new baby who is just so wonderful. And poor little Travis may as well be forgotten in all of this. Neither of us have had much energy to spend with the poor little guy lately. I mean we are just too old for all of this madness! Which reminds me, what is this I heard about you and Chandler arguing all the time?"  
  
"Who told you that?"  
  
"My nieces. Something about you wanting to adopt a baby and Chandler saying hell no a lot."  
  
"Oh, let's just say that I'm going through a baby fever phase. I mean my baby is 11 nearly 12. How is that possible? And I always wanted four but Chandler insisted that we stop after Taylor."  
  
"Well, Mon, you did already have a 3 year-old and a barely 2 year-old when Taylor was born."  
  
"Funny how our three are like little stair steps and yours and Ross' are like seven and eight years apart."  
  
"Well you know how long we tried between Nick and Travis and I did have that miscarriage. And Lauren was a complete surprise," Rachel smiled at her sleeping daughter, "although now that she is here she is such a wonderful surprise."  
  
"I just miss having babies around the house. I feel so old and Taylor is entering that horrid pre-teen phase. Ugh! Maybe the third time really is the charm."  
  
"Well, whenever you get to missing babies, I will just send Lauren over to her Aunt Monica for awhile."  
  
"That would be great! Lauren and I will become buddies! I will spoil her so!" Monica started rambling on about all of the fun things her and Lauren would do together and how she would be her favorite aunt.  
  
Rachel and Monica left their lunch both feeling better about the situations at their respective homes.  
  
By later that afternoon Rachel had phoned her in-laws and made plans for Nick to spend the rest of the summer with his grandparents. The only problem was how to tell Ross. That was trickier than she had counted on. Ross completely freaked out at first. But Rachel eventually won him over with her reasoning. None of them were really prepared for just how hard Nick would take it.  
  
"You don't want me anymore! I make a few mistakes, I just try to be a kid and you want to pass me off to someone else!"  
  
"Nick honey that is not it!" Rachel tried to reason with him.  
  
"You just want the ever complaint Travis and your precious little girl. I am just unwanted baggage-"  
  
"Nicholas listen to us-" Ross started to explain.  
  
"No! Mom, Dad you listen to me! If you really want me to go to Grandma and Grandpa Geller's FINE! Don't ever expect me to come back! I hate you for doing this to me!" By now Rachel was sobbing and Ross was pacing around the room.  
  
The three of them had been arguing back and forth for over an hour when a key turned in the door and in walked- Ben!  
  
"Uh-oh," Ben said, "I can see I picked a bad time."  
  
"Hey Ben!" Ross went over and hugged his 21 year-old son. "There is a never bad time."  
  
"Hi Ben." Rachel also went over and hugged him and tried to hide the sadness in her voice. "It is great to see you!"  
  
"Well we had a two day break at University and so I thought I would come visit. And there is someone I want you to meet." He pulled on the hand of a beautiful young girl. "This is Cortland Lindley, she's a- a friend."  
  
"Hello Cortland. What a beautiful name! It is so nice to meet you." Ross and Rachel both focused their attention on Ben and Cortland.  
  
"Figures!" Nick muttered to himself "And I suppose if she were pregnant with his baby it would be the greatest news ever!" He stormed into his room and slammed the door behind him.  
  
The rest of the evening flew by quickly as Nick stayed in his room blasting his stereo and angrily packing for his trip. Ross, Rachel, Travis, Lauren, Ben, and Cortland spent the evening getting to know each other. Ross and Rachel were pleased with Ben's choice in Cortland. She was a marvelous young lady who was great with kids and obviously adored Ben.  
  
When it was time for bed Ross said "Well Rach and I are kind of tired so we are going to head for bed. Ben, you can sleep in Nick's other bunk bed and Cortland we will pull the couch bed out for you." Ben started to object and then changed his mind.  
  
About two in the morning Rachel woke to giggling and moaning. She sat up in bed quickly and made sure Ross was still asleep. He was sleeping soundly beside her.  
  
She got out of bed and opened the door to the living room. It was as she thought; Ben and Cortland were in bed together. Rachel wasn't sure what to do except she knew better than to awaken Ross. He would totally freak out! She decided just to let them be and to talk to Ben about it in the morning. She quietly closed the door and crawled back into bed. She snuggled up as close to Ross as possible and tried to fall back asleep.  
  
The next morning it was all Rachel could do to wait for Ross to leave for work. When he finally kissed her goodbye and left Rachel turned to Cortland. "Cortland, could I ask you to keep an eye on Travis and Lauren for a few minutes? Ben why don't you come on a walk with me?"  
  
Cortland looked knowingly at Ben and said, "Sure Mrs. Geller."  
  
"You can call me Rachel. Come on Ben we should be only ten minutes or so."  
  
Ben and Rachel decided to talk a walk around the apartment building. "Ben, I need to talk to you. I saw you and Cortland together last night. Why didn't you two just say you wanted to share a room rather than sneaking around?"  
  
"Because Dad would have freaked."  
  
"No, no, he would have freaked if he had seen you last night. What if Travis had seen you?"  
  
"You mean he's never seen you-"  
  
Rachel quickly changed the focus of the conversation back to Ben, "Look Ben he wouldn't have freaked if you wanted to share a room. But he would have if he had seen you or if Travis had caught you."  
  
"Why? It's not like Dad's a virgin."  
  
Rachel blushed slightly, "Yes, I know. Great now you sound like Nick. What are we going to do with you boys? And I suppose I am supposed to keep this a secret from your Dad?"  
  
"Just until I get a chance to talk to him about it. I think Cortland's the one Rach. I don't want to blow anything about this relationship especially how I approach it with Dad."  
  
"Ben, your Dad knows you are an adult. I think maybe you are underestimating him on this one a little bit."  
  
"Maybe, but just give me a chance to handle this my way please Rachel."  
  
Ben gave her the puppy look that he inherited from his Dad.  
  
"Geesh, I can never say no to those eyes. Why did you all get them?"  
  
"Thanks Rach. You're the best third Mommy a boy could ever have."  
  
The next day Ross, Rachel, Travis, Lauren, Ben and Cortland took Nick to the airport to catch his flight to spend the summer with his grandparents. Ben and Cortland took Travis and Lauren on a walk. Ross, Rachel, and Nick sat in the boarding area in silence. Ross and Rachel were each pondering if they were making the right decision. When the final boarding call was made for the flight Rachel went over to Nick and tried to hug him. Nick was not receptive. "We love you, son." Ross said softly.  
  
"Yeah, whatever." Nick just walked away from them onto the plane. Rachel went immediately into Ross' arms. He held her as they watched their son's plane take off and take him out of their lives for the summer.  
  
Ben drove home because Ross and Rachel were too preoccupied. But instead of stopping at home, he stopped in front of the Radisson Hotel. "Ben, what are you doing?" Ross asked.  
  
"Well, Cortland and I talked about it and decided that maybe you two could use a night away."  
  
"But Travis and Lauren-"  
  
"We will keep them."  
  
"Overnight?"  
  
"Sure we can handle it. Besides, Aunt Monica and Uncle Chandler are right across the hall." Ben waved the room key at them, "Besides, we know where to find you. C'mon, you know you want to?"  
  
Ross looked at Rachel and she nodded slowly. "Alright, but Ben you call us if you need us. And don't hesitate to get Monica-"  
  
"And Lauren needs to eat when you get home. Her bottles are in the refrigerator."  
  
Ben interrupted their ranting, "Would you two just get out of the van before we change our minds?" He winked at Cortland.  
  
A few minutes later Ross and Rachel found themselves completely alone for the first time in along time. Ross sat down on the edge of the bed and Rachel sat on his lap.  
  
Ross started rubbing and kissing her neck. "Ross, do you think we made the right choice with Nick? I think we broke his heart.."  
  
Ross kept kissing her, "Shh! Let's talk about it in a few minutes. Right now, the only person I want to think about is you. How much I love you and how much I want you right now." He laid her on the bed.  
  
"But honey-"  
  
"Shhh! No talking!" he kissed her soundly. Rachel started to get into his kisses and soon they both forgot their troubles for a while. (  
  
Montage: Ross and Rachel enjoying their night; eating dinner by candlelight, taking a bubble bath together, watching a movie snuggled up on the couch, and cuddling in bed together. Ben and Cortland feeding Lauren, roughhousing with Travis, putting them to bed, making out on the couch.  
  
In the morning Ross and Rachel enjoyed a long breakfast together in bed and then decided to take a cab home.  
  
When they opened the front door, Travis ran up to them in his cowboy outfit. "Mommy! Daddy! I missed you but I had the funnest time ever with Ben and Cortland!"  
  
Rachel hugged him eagerly, "That's great honey!"  
  
Ross looked at Ben and Cortland, "Did you two have fun playing house?"  
  
Cortland blushed and said Ben "Yeah it was fun. What about you two? Did you enjoy your night away?"  
  
Rachel beamed lovingly at Ross and said, "It was exactly what we needed."  
  
The day went by somewhat uneventfully. Ross took Ben to lunch and Rachel and Cortland hung out at the Geller house. When Ben and Ross came home, Rachel knew that they had had their talk. Ross seemed okay with the whole situation because when Cortland and Ben announced it was time for them to leave, Ross hugged them both and said to Cortland, "You take good care of my son."  
  
"I will Dr. Geller. I will." Ross and Rachel stood with their arms around each other and watched Ben and Cortland drive away.  
  
Then they followed the skipping Travis back into their house. 


	6. TOW The Letter

As always, Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe and Joey do not belong to me to but the creator of FRIENDS.  
  
  
  
TOW The Letter  
  
Rachel, Phoebe, Sierra, Madi, Taylor, and Lauren were shopping in a large mall. "Aunt Rachel, can we go to Music land?" Madi asked.  
  
"Sure guys, but make sure you meet us right back here in fifteen minutes." Her three nieces went off toward the store. Rachel pulled Lauren's stroller over to a bench and sat down. Phoebe plopped down next to her. "Oh I am sooo tired!"  
  
"So when is Nick coming home?"  
  
"Well Ross talked to Judy last night and they decided to keep him an extra week. So he will be home about a week before school starts. And to be honest, Pheebs, it has been so peaceful without him here I'm not sure if I am looking forward to him coming home."  
  
"I can understand. Does he talk to you or Ross yet?"  
  
"No every time we call he refuses to speak to either of us. Guess I can't blame the kid. After all we did send him away-"  
  
"Rachel don't you even make yourself feel guilty about this. You are a fabulous Mom, like way better than I thought you would ever be. Nick was being a grateful, rebellious child and you did what you thought was best for the family-"  
  
Rachel hugged her, "Thanks Phoebe. You always did have a way of putting things."  
  
"Yeah, I know it's a gift."  
  
The girls were back now each one toting a new CD. "If you girls spent your school clothes money on CD's your Mother will go ballistic on me." Rachel warned them.  
  
"Relax, Aunt Rach," Sierra laughed, "We know all too well what Mom would do to you- and to us. We bought these with our allowance."  
  
"Okay, then." They shopped for a few more hours and then finally headed back to Ross and Rachel's.  
  
They opened the front door and dropped all their bags on the floor. Ross looked up at them and smiled, "That better not all be yours Mrs. Geller."  
  
"Relax Dr." she winked at him, "Only about half of it is mine." He came to her and kissed her. "All right ladies, why don't you sort through this and take your stuff over to your apartment and put it away."  
  
Taylor held up a shopping bag, "Who bought something at Victoria's Secret?"  
  
Rachel quickly grabbed the bag, "That is mine."  
  
Ross raised his eyebrows at her, "Is it?"  
  
"Yes," Rachel wrapped her arms protectively around the package and made a dash for their room.  
  
Ross tried to follow her into their room but she shut the door on him, "Rachel Karen Geller open up this door!"  
  
"Oh Uncle Ross, I bet you can't wait for us to go home now!" Sierra joked.  
  
"Ewww! Gross!" Taylor rolled her eyes, "You guys are like way worse than our parents and our parents are like hopeless nymphos."  
  
Ross looked at Taylor in shock, "You are way too young to even know that word young lady!"  
  
"Relax, Uncle Ross we live with Mom and Dad. Who by the way, say you and Aunt Rachel are much worse." Rachel burst out laughing from her bedroom and Ross looked down kind of embarrassed.  
  
Rachel opened the door walked right past Ross into the kitchen and started dinner. When their nieces left to take their stuff home Ross asked, "So what did you buy at Victoria's Secret?"  
  
"Oh, nothing. Just some underclothes I have been needing."  
  
"What kind of underclothes?"  
  
"You know, the usual bras and underwear."  
  
"Rach, are you keeping secrets from me?" Ross teased, "Cause you know I will make you pay for keeping secrets."  
  
"Oh will you?" Rachel touched his lips with her fingers, "Well then you just gave me more of a reason not to tell you."  
  
The girls came back into the apartment laughing and joking about their now bulging closets. "Oh no! Mom's going to want us to recategorize our clothes-"  
  
"I know! I know! Maybe if we tell her we did it will they were gone she won't make us do it again."  
  
"Yeah, right. Then she will want to see our inventory list by category."  
  
Ross and Rachel laughed. Sometimes they felt sorry for their nieces who had to live with the ever-obsessive Monica. Only Sierra who was just like her Mother didn't seem to mind Monica's quirky little "things." "Which reminds me, your parents called while you were out shopping. They are going to be gone a day longer than they thought. So you are stuck with your Aunt and I for a little bit longer." Ross told them.  
  
"That's cool!" Taylor turned on the TV, "you guys are the coolest- except for they lovey dovey stuff." Soon the girls were engrossed in VH1. Ross kissed Rachel's forehead, "Are you okay with having them for an extra night?"  
  
"All the longer to keep secrets from you my dear." She grinned at him.  
  
Ross wrapped his arms around her, "Maybe when my sister and her dear husband return from their trip, they will let us go on one of our own." He kissed her and pulled her closer to him.  
  
"Ross! Ross! The water's boiling!"  
  
He ignored her and kept kissing her, "And our nieces are in the next room! Joey is bringing Travis back from the zoo like any second now-" As if on cue the door opened and in walked Travis and Joey.  
  
"Rach you got any food? I'm starved." Joey looked at them kissing and said, "Niiice!" Ross and Rachel broke quickly.  
  
Ross went into the living room to get Travis cleaned up for dinner. Rachel set an extra place at the table, "Stay and eat dinner with us Joey. It'll be crowded and fun."  
  
And fun it was. During dinner, Joey had them all in stitches. He told the girls about their parents' secret love affair and how they all found out. Of course because Joey knew about the relationship the longest he had the most information and his version of the events were hilarious.  
  
Sierra wiped the tears from her eyes, "Mom and Dad conveniently left some of that out. They may kill you when they found out you told us." She smiled at her sisters, "Now we know why Dad always teases Mom about laundry day."  
  
After dinner Joey went home and the girls gave Travis his bath. They loved babying him and he loved all the attention. Ross took Lauren for a bit and Rachel went into to read to Travis and tuck him in.  
  
A few days later.  
  
When Monica and Chandler came back from their trip Rachel could tell that they had a refreshing time. The girls were eager to see their parents and were already starting to tease them about some of the things Joey had told them. "That's it Joey is a dead bastard." Chandler said to Monica.  
  
"Yep, but how do we do it?" Monica asked as the girls laughed at them.  
  
Finally Ross, Rachel, Travis and Lauren had their apartment and their routine back to normal. It was an eerie, yet wonderful feeling after a week and a half with a house full of teenage girls.  
  
"Maybe that's why Nick and Travis were boys." Ross laughed, "Cause I am not ready for adolescent daughters," he picked up Lauren, "It's a good thing I have a few years to practice before you turn into one of them." He teased his little daughter and made a funny face at her. Lauren smiled at her Daddy and squealed in delight. "Oh yes! There's Daddy's little girl!"  
  
Rachel looked lovingly at her husband and her daughter. She was so glad that she had given him a daughter even if they were too damn old for this baby thing. They were both having a blast.  
  
When Travis and Lauren were in bed Ross joined his wife on the couch. She was looking over some designs for the new fall line. "Thinking of going back already?" Ross asked.  
  
"Already? Lauren is five months old. We agreed I would wait until she was six months. My new boss just asked for my opinion on the new fall line."  
  
"Honey, what's in the Victoria's Secret bag?"  
  
"I told you underclothes."  
  
"Can I see?"  
  
"Ross, there is nothing to see it's bras and underwear."  
  
"I still want to see. Please." He gave her his puppy dog eyes.  
  
Rachel sighed, "Man those eyes are killers! I will show them to you, but then you have to let me finish looking at these designs, my boss wants my critique in the morning."  
  
Ross ran his hand up her leg, "But I want to see your fall line." He began kissing her neck, "I've heard it's fabulous."  
  
"It is-" Rachel tried to divert his attention. "We have this great new black strapless dress."  
  
"Uh hum," Ross laid her down on the couch and began unbuttoning her shirt, as his kisses on her neck grew more intense.  
  
"Oh dammit!" Rachel said and let herself be carried away by her husband's advances.  
  
About three days before Nick was scheduled to arrive home Ross and Rachel received a certified letter from an attorney. Rachel tore it open and then burst into tears.  
  
Her hands were shaking so hard she could barely dial Ross' number. "Professor Geller."  
  
"Ross," she was serious and quiet.  
  
"Rach? What's happened? What is it?"  
  
"Ross, I need you to come home."  
  
"Well, I have a class this afternoon. I'll see if I can get a substitute."  
  
"Ross you have to come home. It's really important. Please-" Rachel was crying too hard to go on so she hung up.  
  
Ross tore out of his office down to the Dean's fearing the worst. He spoke quickly with the Dean and then rushed home as fast as he could.  
  
He found Rachel on the couch hugging Lauren tightly to her. Travis was coloring at the table. "Hey buddy!" Ross tousled his sons' hair.  
  
"I'm drawing you a new dinosaur Daddy."  
  
"That's great, Trav, my office needs some new artwork and you just happen to be my favorite artist."  
  
Ross sat down next to Rachel, "Okay, I'm here. What's going on?"  
  
Rachel handed him the letter. "This is what is going on."  
  
Ross read the contents of the letter and looked at his wife sadly. "I think we need a lawyer now." He went across the hall and asked Monica to watch Travis and Lauren. He didn't tell her anything but Monica knew Ross well enough to know that something was very wrong so she quickly agreed.  
  
Ross and Rachel soon found themselves in an attorney's office. Rachel was grasping the letter in one hand and Ross' hand in the other. Neither of them spoke. A few more minutes passed and finally the lawyer entered the room. "Hello, I'm Mike Clark."  
  
Ross stood, "Hi, I'm Ross Geller and this is my wife Rachel."  
  
Mike sat down behind his large desk and looked at them through the end of his glasses, "So what exactly do you need my help with? My secretary told me this was concerning an adoption-"  
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED. 


	7. TOW The Disagreement

As usual, the characters from the television show FRIENDS do not belong to me.  
  
Previously, in TOW The Letter:  
  
Ross read the contents of the letter and looked at his wife sadly. "I think we need a lawyer now." He went across the hall and asked Monica to watch Travis and Lauren. He didn't tell her anything but Monica knew Ross well enough to know that something was very wrong so she quickly agreed.  
  
Ross and Rachel soon found themselves in an attorney's office. Rachel was grasping the letter in one hand and Ross' hand in the other. Neither of them spoke. A few more minutes passed and finally the lawyer entered the room. "Hello, I'm Mike Clark."  
  
Ross stood, "Hi, I'm Ross Geller and this is my wife Rachel."  
  
Mike sat down behind his large desk and looked at them through the end of his glasses, "So what exactly do you need my help with? My secretary told me this was concerning an adoption-"  
  
  
  
And now….  
  
TOW The Disagreement  
  
Ross handed Mr. Clark the letter, "Here is what we received in the mail."  
  
Mr. Clark looked up at them after reading the letter, "Do you wish to contest this adoption?"  
  
`"Well, yeah."  
  
`"May I ask why?"  
  
"Well, it is our 15 year-old son's baby and we just feel really strongly that he should take responsibility for his child."  
  
"You mean raise it himself?"  
  
"Not necessarily that so much as if the baby is put for adoption that Nick should be allowed to be involved. So far the young lady's family has completely left our son and us out of the decisions. They have been rude and spiteful," he gripped Rachel's hand, "We have a five month-old baby at home that is ours so we are not in the position to adopt it ourselves."  
  
"Well, all I can do right now is issue a temporary stay of the adoption process until paternity can be positively identified. Then once that has been established I think we should try to come to an agreement outside of court."  
  
Ross stood up and shook hands with the lawyer, "Thank-you so much for the help. I will be by tomorrow with a check for your retainer fee"  
  
"It was nice to meet you Dr. and Mrs. Geller. We will get this worked out."  
  
Rachel who had remained silent through the whole visit blew up in the car,  
  
"What the hell were you doing in there?"  
  
Ross looked at her stunned, "What did I do wrong, Rach? I got us an attorney."  
  
"You said we don't want to adopt the baby."  
  
"Of course we don't Rachel! In case you've forgotten we have a brand new baby,  
  
an eight year-old, and a very difficult teenager."  
  
"So you would rather your grandchild be raised by strangers so your life isn't inconvenienced?"  
  
"Rachel, you are being ridiculous and irrational about this. Besides, if we take the baby how will that teach Nick a lesson in responsibility?"  
  
"Separating him forever from his child is not the answer either."  
  
"Well, I don't know what else to do Rachel. It's obvious that Jessie doesn't want to keep the baby and I just don't think Nick is in the position to do this alone."  
  
"Isn't that what we are here for Ross? To help him?"  
  
"Yes, honey but it's not fair to our other children to take on this responsibility."  
  
Rachel sighed, "Damnit! I feel like such a failure with him. We didn't teach him enough about safe sex, we just drilled abstinence into him." She was crying now, "and like many teenagers he just couldn't wait and he didn't know how to protect himself."  
  
Ross rested his hand on her knee, "Sweetie, we educated him about AIDS, STDS, and we talked to him about condoms. Yes, we did drill abstinence into him, because we were really hoping that that is the choice that he would make for himself. He just made a mistake. And the like the rest of us, he is going to have to live with the consequences of his decisions. There's just a possibility that his consequences won't be happy for him."  
  
Rachel took his hand off her knee, "It doesn't bother you at all that this is your grandchild? That this child is your flesh and blood? That Jessie has a little Lauren growing inside of her right now?"  
  
"Of course it bothers me, it bothers me a lot. Some days it is all I think about. But I think we have to look at this realistically and understand that ultimately what happens to our grandchild may not be up to us. In fact we may not even get a say in it all."  
  
Rachel snapped at him, "Well I still can't believe you are being this insensitive about this. I am so angry with you right now. And will you please speed the hell what up, what you are going like 20 miles an hour?"  
  
"Well, at least I don't get speeding tickets."  
  
"That's for sure." They drove the rest of the way home in silence. When they got to their apartment building Rachel went over to Monica and Chandler's to pick up Travis and Lauren. She could hear Lauren's screams in the hallway.  
  
"She's starving," Monica explained, "She won't take her bottle." Rachel took her daughter from Monica and sat down on the couch to nurse Lauren. The baby's cries instantly subsided.  
  
"So what's going on Rachel?" The concern was etched on Monica's face,  
  
"Is Nick alright?"  
  
While Lauren nursed Rachel told Monica the whole story, "I am so mad at Ross right now. I can't believe he doesn't want his own grandchild." She burst into tears, "It's like I wake up everyday in someone else's nightmare."  
  
Monica put her arms around Rachel's shoulder, "Oh sweetie, it's all going to work out. I know that Ross loves you so much and that he loves his grandchild. I really think he wants what is best for all of you. Look at you, Rachel, you are exhausted and you want to go back to work soon. However would you manage with another baby? Do you honestly think Nick is at the place in his life where he can be a good, responsible father? He is still just a kid."  
  
"How can I give away my own grandchild? I mean I always imagined the birth of my first grandchild as a joyous, happy occasion. This is almost as bad as a funeral."  
  
"Maybe you and the Moore's will be able to find a family that will give an open adoption so you can still be involved in the baby's life and get pictures and letters."  
  
Rachel looked at Monica, "Do you think you could help Ross with Travis for a few days?'  
  
"Yeah, sure. Why?"  
  
Because before Nick gets home I want to go away for a few days and think this through. I really need to work through this on my own. I'll take Lauren with me."  
  
"Whatever you need. But don't shut Ross out."  
  
Ross tried to talk Rachel out of going away. He was so worried about her being alone to wallow in depression. She had been on an emotional roller coaster ever since she had discovered she was pregnant with Lauren. But as usual, Rachel was stubborn and unrelenting. "Ross, I need to do this. I just need some time to clear my head and really feel right about whatever decision is made. I hope that you will use this time to rethink your position, and your motives behind it." She walked right past him with the suitcase and Lauren's diaper bag and took them to the car. She came back in and took Lauren from Ross, "Travis come give Mommy a kiss." Travis quietly gave her a hug and a kiss. Rachel handed Ross a piece of paper, "This is the hotel where I will be staying. Don't call unless it is an emergency. I will be home in time to go with you to the airport to pick up Nick on Friday. I should be ready to talk then." With that said she left.  
  
Ross just stood there staring at the closed door. "I love you Rach." He said softly.  
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED…  
  
  
  
` 


	8. TOW Phoebe Gets Involved

As always, the characters from the television show FRIENDS do not belong to me and this story is for entertainment purposes only.  
  
  
  
Previously in TOW The Disagreement:  
  
Ross tried to talk Rachel out of going away. He was so worried about her being alone to wallow in depression. She had been on an emotional roller coaster ever since she had discovered she was pregnant with Lauren. But as usual, Rachel was stubborn and unrelenting. "Ross, I need to do this. I just need some time to clear my head and really feel right about whatever decision is made. I hope that you will use this time to rethink your position, and your motives behind it." She walked right past him with the suitcase and Lauren's diaper bag and took them to the car. She came back in and took Lauren from Ross, "Travis come give Mommy a kiss." Travis quietly gave her a hug and a kiss. Rachel handed Ross a piece of paper, "This is the hotel where I will be staying. Don't call unless it is an emergency. I will be home in time to go with you to the airport to pick up Nick on Friday. I should be ready to talk then." With that said she left.  
  
Ross just stood there staring at the closed door. "I love you Rach." He said softly.  
  
  
  
And now:  
  
1 TOW Phoebe Gets Involved  
  
The first day that Rachel was gone Ross moped around the house. He couldn't help but think that although he knew he was going in the right direction with this situation with his son that perhaps he wasn't being sensitive enough to Rachel. She was constantly on his mind; he loved her so much and couldn't bear to think that his decisions were tearing her apart emotionally. Ross had no idea that one of his best friends would make a decision that day that would change all of their lives forever.  
  
Phoebe knocked on the door of the hotel room where Rachel and Lauren were staying. Rachel opened the door just enough to see who it was. "Oh, hi Phoebe."  
  
"Rach, can we talk?" Rachel opened the door and let in her. "You look like hell."  
  
"Well Lauren hasn't slept since we came here. She just fell asleep ten minutes ago out of sheer exhaustion so we'll have to whisper."  
  
"That's fine." Phoebe sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Rachel very seriously, 'I want to adopt Nick and Jessie's baby."  
  
Rachel stared at Phoebe open-mouthed, "What- what did you just say?"  
  
"I want to adopt Nick and Jessie's baby. Let's face it I'm 45 years old I'm never going to have my own natural child now. My biological clock is ticking, ticking, ticking. This may be my only chance to ever have a child."  
  
"But Pheebs, Mr. and Mrs. Moore have already selected another couple to adopt the baby. Ross and I had to go to court to get a temporary stay on the adoption proceedings until Nick comes back from Florida."  
  
"I have already set up an appointment with Mr. and Mrs. Moore and Jessie. I am very serious about this Rachel but I wanted to make sure that you and Ross are going to be okay with this. And Nick too of course."  
  
Rachel began to cry, "Phoebe, you are the greatest friend anyone could ever ask for. How loving and selfless of you…"  
  
"Hey now, I'm not totally without reason for doing this and it is somewhat selfish."  
  
"But if it doesn't work out, if the Moore's don't agree."  
  
"We'll have to worry about that when we get there now won't we, if we get there."  
  
Phoebe handed Rachel the phone, "Now call your husband and tell him to meet you here. You two have things to talk out."  
  
"But Lauren-"  
  
"Lauren will go for a ride with her Auntie Phoebe. She'll sleep right through it anyway. When you are ready to have her back just call me. And Monica is picking up Travis at school today so you really have no more excuses."  
  
"Isn't Ross at work though? I mean I can't call him in the middle of class."  
  
"Oh my God, Rachel, will you just call him? He is at home. He took a few vacation days because he is too emotional to be effective at work right now. If you don't call him I'm going to seriously hurt you."  
  
Rachel dialed her home number and Ross answered on the first ring. She told him to come to the hotel she was ready to talk. When she hung up Phoebe picked the sleeping Lauren up and put her in her car seat. "Now go shower and get changed before your husband gets here. It will be easier to talk if you don't look like hell."  
  
By the time Ross got to the hotel room Rachel was showered and in fresh clothes.  
  
Ross knocked on the door and Rachel let him in. "Ross, sit down we need to talk." He sat down next to her on the bed and she took his hand in hers, "Phoebe came by this morning."  
  
Ross looked all around the hotel room, "Rach, where is Lauren? Is something wrong?"  
  
"It's okay sweetie, she's with Phoebe. She wanted us to have a chance to talk alone. And everyone's just fine so there's no need to worry. Now, I need to tell you something. Phoebe came by this morning and told me that she would like to adopt Nick and Jessie's baby."  
  
"What?" Ross looked at her stunned, "What??"  
  
"I know it freaked me out at first too a little bit, but Ross, sweetie this could be the perfect solution. Think about it our grandchild being raised by one of our best friends, we could watch him or her grow up Ross, and Nick could be involved a little too, if he wants to be."  
  
"But what about the Moores? What about Jessie? This may not be what she wants. What about Nick? He may not want to put the baby up for adoption. He may decide he wants to keep it."  
  
"Ross?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
Ross looked at her lovingly. "You're right Rachel, this could be the perfect solution. This could be the one way that everyone is happy." He hugged her, "I love you so much."  
  
"I love you too." She kissed him, "I suppose I can go check out of this room and go home now that we've worked everything out. We will still need to discuss how we are going to bring up the subject with Nick. But we have another day or so to worry about that." She started to stand up and then realized something. "You know what Ross?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"We are all alone in an empty hotel room!" She winked at him, "What do you suppose we should do about that?"  
  
"Ummm we could redeem the time?" Ross suggested.  
  
"I can never say no to you." She laid down on the bed and pulled him on top of her. He kissed her intensely and they spent the afternoon making love.  
  
Two days later Ross, Rachel, Travis, and Lauren went to the airport to pick up Nick. Rachel was a little nervous and she was pacing around the gate bouncing Lauren in her arms.  
  
Ross laid his hand on her shoulder, "Rach come on the plane just got in. Stop making yourself so anxious everything is going to be fine." They walked over to the door of the gate where the passengers were starting to file out. They waited for what seemed like forever and finally Nick appeared. Ross walked up to him first and hugged him, "Welcome home son. We missed you."  
  
Rachel threw her arms around him and cried. Nick looked helplessly at his Dad and then said, "Hi Mom. Hi Dad. I missed you guys too."  
  
The ride home in the car was filled with conversation about all of the things that Nick did on his visit with his grandparents. The separation though long seemed to have done them all a world of good.  
  
After Travis and Lauren were in bed that night Rachel, Ross and Nick sat at the kitchen table and had a serious conversation about the baby. "Nicholas, son, we need to how you feel about this baby. What role you want to take in the life of this child. Jessie and her parents have decided to give up this baby for adoption we need to know how you feel about that."  
  
Nick swallowed hard, "Mom, Dad I love my baby I really do. But I want to be a kid. I realize that I made a mistake when I slept with Jessie and that the kid didn't ask to be born. I think that it would be unfair and selfish of me to prevent it from going to someone who really wants to have a baby. And I don't. Not right now, anyway."  
  
Rachel's eyes welled up with tears, "That is the most mature, responsible thing I have ever heard you say Nick. I am so very proud of you son."  
  
"Me too." Ross agreed.  
  
"Nick, honey, your Aunt Phoebe came to us while you were in Florida and mentioned that she would like to adopt your baby. We would like to know how you would feel about her adopting your child."  
  
"Really? Aunt Phoebe wants the baby, my baby? Seriously?"  
  
"Seriously. She has made arrangements for all of us to meet with the Moore's this Saturday if you are okay with proceeding with this. But if you are not sure Nick, just say the word and it will get dropped. We don't want to pressure you into any decision that you do not feel ready for."  
  
Nick thought for a moment and then he finally spoke, "I think it would be really great if Aunt Phoebe took the baby. I mean she would be a great Mom and I would never have to worry about the kid being mistreated or anything. It would be really cool!"  
  
Ross smiled, "Then it is settled. We'll call her in the morning and tell her. But now let's all get some sleep."  
  
Phoebe was overjoyed at Nick's decision. Saturday they all gathered at the Moore's house for the meeting. They were all seated around the living room eating appetizers and having drinks. Finally Mr. Moore set down his drink and said, "Okay Mr. and Mrs. Geller and Ms. Buffay it's obvious that this is not merely a social call. Especially considering that you've hired an attorney."  
  
Phoebe smiled at them, "Mr. and Mrs. Moore I am Phoebe Buffay. I have been a friend of Ross and Rachel's for almost twenty years. I know that they have been a hard time deciding how to deal with the situation that their son has found himself in."  
  
Mr. Moore interrupted, "Well, we all know how it could have been prevented."  
  
Ross tried to maintain the civil tone in the conversation by immediately interjecting, "Mr. Moore, please we are not here to rehash what anyone could have done differently. We are here to talk about what we can do to make this situation work out happily for everyone and most importantly come to a decision that will be in the best interest of the child."  
  
This is where Phoebe began again, "I would like to adopt Nick and Jessie's baby. I am past the age where I can have a child naturally and I have always wanted to be a Mother. I think this would be a great solution and one everyone would be happy with."  
  
Mr. Moore interrupted, "Look Ms.Buffay, I appreciate your time but we have already found the parents for Nick and Jessie's baby. Now I am sorry to disappoint you but this meeting is really a waste of time."  
  
Mrs. Moore surprised everyone by finally speaking, "Jacob, I think we should listen to what Ms. Buffay has to say. She is obviously trying to meet us in the middle here and I think it is time that we started trying to be a little more sensitive to the other grandparents in this baby's life."  
  
Jacob Moore sighed heavily, "Fine, Marie, you are right. Ms. Buffay we will listen to you. Although, I can not promise you that it will change anything."  
  
Several hours later, Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, and Nick left the Moore's slightly more optimistic than they were when they first arrived. Several days went by without so much as a word of their decision. Nick went to school and everyone else went to work and they jumped every time the phone rang hoping that they would get the answer they would be waiting for.  
  
One night during dinner there was a knock on the door. Nick stood up, "I'll get it." At the door stood Jessie, "Hi Jess. Come on in."  
  
Jessie came shyly into the kitchen and saw everyone sitting around the table, "Oh I am so sorry I have interrupted your dinner."  
  
Rachel motioned for her to sit in the empty chair at the table, "Nonsense, have a seat. Would you like something to eat?"  
  
"No thank you ma'am I've already had my dinner. I came over because I was hoping to talk to you about this adoption. I've given my parents my opinion about who I would like to see adopt this baby and I told them that I want to give her to your friend."  
  
Nick dropped his fork onto his plate, "Did you just say her? Jessie is it a girl?"  
  
"Yeah, I found out today! It's a little girl!"  
  
Everyone cheered and hugged. "Well Jessie, that is very exciting news thank you for sharing with us what you are thinking."  
  
This statement caused Jessie to burst into tears, "I am not sure my parents are going to listen me. Why won't they listen to me? They have treated me like this my whole life. I am just their puppet on a string with no feelings. This baby is my mistake and I should be allowed to help fix it."  
  
Rachel hugged her, "You know what Jessie, I think you are a great Mom. You love your little girl so much and you are trying to do the right thing by her. And we want you to know that we will do whatever we can to help you."  
  
"Thank you Mrs. Geller that really means a lot to me." Jessie stood up, "Well I better be going I've taken up enough of your time. Thanks again."  
  
After Jessie left Ross looked at Rachel, "You know this little granddaughter of ours is very lucky. She has so many people that love her."  
  
"Yeah she is." Rachel added, "Yeah she is."  
  
About a week later the phone rang in the middle of the night and brought Ross and Rachel both out of a sound sleep. Rachel found the phone first "Hello?"  
  
"Mrs. Geller?"  
  
"Yes this is she."  
  
"Mrs. Geller, it's Marie Moore. Have you seen Jessie?"  
  
"No, I'm sorry I'm afraid we haven't seen her for a few days. Is everything all right?"  
  
"Well not exactly. She's missing. She didn't come home tonight. I wanted to call you earlier but Jacob was being well, Jacob. Anyway, would Nick know where she is?"  
  
"I can have Ross go ask him but her and Nick don't really see each other anymore. Hold on one second please, Marie." She covered the mouthpiece with her hand and said to Ross, "Jessie's missing, go ask Nick if he's seen her."  
  
Ross got up and made his way down the hall to Nick's room. He flipped on Nick's light switch and gasped at what he saw. All of the drawers in Nick's dresser were opened, and his bed was empty….  
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	9. TOW Nick and Jessie Take Control

As usual, this story is written purely for entertainment purposes and I do not own the characters from the television show FRIENDS.  
  
Previously on The Bings and The Gellers:  
  
"Mrs. Geller, it's Marie Moore. Have you seen Jessie?"  
  
"No, I'm sorry I'm afraid we haven't seen her for a few days. Is everything all right?"  
  
"Well not exactly. She's missing. She didn't come home tonight. I wanted to call you earlier but Jacob was being well, Jacob. Anyway, would Nick know where she is?"  
  
"I can have Ross go ask him but her and Nick don't really see each other anymore. Hold on one second please, Marie." She covered the mouthpiece with her hand and said to Ross, "Jessie's missing, go ask Nick if he's seen her."  
  
Ross got up and made his way down the hall to Nick's room. He flipped on Nick's light switch and gasped at what he saw. All of the drawers in Nick's dresser were opened, and his bed was empty….  
  
  
  
And now: The Bings and The Gellers Part Nine:  
  
The One Where Nick and Jessie Take Control  
  
Ross just stood in Nick's room staring at the empty bed, thoughts racing through his head. He finally turned and went back down the hall to his and Rachel's room. "Rach, Nick is gone." He mouthed.  
  
"Oh my God," Rachel covered the mouthpiece with her hand, "are you sure?"  
  
"Well his bed is empty and so are his dresser drawers. He must have taken off with Jessie."  
  
"But where could they have gone?" She turned her attention to the phone again, "Mrs. Moore? I'm really sorry but it seems that Nick is missing. Well, he couldn't have left too long ago because he was here at dinner and at bedtime cause we all watched a movie together. Well, if you would like to come over here that would be better because Travis and Lauren are still asleep. Alright, well if Jacob is in agreement come over and we will try to work through this. Don't worry they are good kids, we will find them." She hung up the phone looking very distressed, "Ross, what are we going to do?"  
  
"We are going to get dressed and go wait for them in the kitchen. I will make us some coffee." He hugged her tightly, "They couldn't have gone far, we will figure this all out Rachel. I promise you."  
  
Within a half an hour the Moore's showed up at Ross and Rachel's. Ross let them in and offered them some coffee. They sat in silence at first, Mrs. Moore and Rachel crying off and on, and Ross and Mr. Moore just sitting in stone silence. At last Mr. Moore surprised everyone in the room by speaking up first, "Well, if they have gone off and done something stupid I suppose it's my fault. I should have listened to Jessica, I should have told her how much I care about her. I should not have tried to pass all the blame on to Nick. He seems like a good kid, who just messed up."  
  
Ross interjected, "they both are Jacob, they both are."  
  
"We have got to find them, we just have to."  
  
"We will find them. Let's start by making a list of all their mutual friends. That way we can call their houses and see if they have any information about where Nick and Jessie are."  
  
"Should we call the police?"  
  
"I suppose that would be a good idea. Although, they won't start looking for them until they've been missing for twenty-four hours." Rachel brought pens and paper to the table and they got to work trying to figure out mutual friends.  
  
Several hours later the four parents had exhausted themselves and all resources as none of Nick's and Jessie's friends seem to know where they were. The police showed up to take a statement, and seemed unconcerned. This got under Jacob Moore's skin and he finally asked, "Excuse me Officer, but why is it that you appear to be unconcerned with the fact that there are two teenagers missing here?"  
  
"See cases like this all the time." The officer replied, "two young kids, she's pregnant both sets of parents are torn about what to do, so the kids run away to scare everybody or try to take the situation back. They will show up in a day or two. Nonetheless, once they have been missing for a full twenty-four hour period, I will put out an APB on them and that way the department will know to be looking for them. They will turn up, it sounds like they are smart kids."  
  
After the police officer left the four parents just sat at the table not knowing what to do next. Finally Marie Moore spoke up, "Well, Jacob I guess we might as well go home because they are most likely not going to show up tonight. If they do we'll make sure the other family knows."  
  
Jacob rose reluctantly and looked at Ross and Rachel, "I owe you two an apology. I have made this terrible situation much more difficult than it already was. I hope that you will accept my apology and believe me when I say that I will not be so difficult in the future."  
  
Ross stood and shook his hand, "I appreciate that very much. And of course we accept your apology, and we promise to work together with both of you to make sure that the best solution is worked out for both of our kids, and for our mutual grandbaby."  
  
After the Moore's left Ross put his arm around Rachel's shoulder, "I suppose we should get to bed Rach. We need some rest, Lauren will be getting us up soon."  
  
Rachel's eyes brimmed with tears, "I can't sleep Ross, I won't be able to sleep until I know where my baby is and that's he okay. Ross, what if they were an accident? What if they are stranded somewhere all alone and scared?"  
  
Ross hugged her tightly to him, "Rachel, I promise you that we will find them. We will find them. I will call Jacob once it gets light out and we will go look for them. But I think we should stay put right now in case they turn up. They are probably hiding out at a friend's house trying to scare us into listening to them."  
  
"But Nick doesn't even like Jessie! Why would he go with her? He doesn't want to be with her, she loves someone else. Why would he suddenly care about what happens to her?"  
  
"Rachel, this is still his daughter. He seems to feel responsible for her which is what we want. We tried to raise him to be a child who takes his responsibilities seriously. Maybe Jessie was just feeling alone and scared so she came to Nick because she doesn't know where else to turn. Nick is a sensitive kid so he is not going to turn her away, just like he didn't before."  
  
Rachel sighed heavily, "I hope you're right. You can go to bed, sweetie, I'm just going to sit out here and think about all of this." She kissed him, "I love you."  
  
Ross kissed her back, "I love you too. You really should come to bed, Rach."  
  
She pushed him towards the door, "I'll be fine. You go, if I hear anything I'll wake you." After Ross had disappeared into their room Rachel grabbed the phone off the table and curled up on the couch the phone wrapped in her knees. She sat on the couch tears were streaming down her face and she thought of all the things that goes through a Mother's mind when her child is missing. She saw images of Nicholas Ross Geller's pictures on the back of milk cartons, on the missing bulletin boards at Wal- Mart and on America's Most Wanted. Her mind kept going back to happier times when Nick was an innocent little boy who gave her crayon drawings of dinosaurs and hugged her with sticky hands.  
  
In their bedroom, Ross was laying in bed staring at the ceiling, though he knew he desperately needed to go to sleep, he just couldn't sleep. He was so worried. His insides were in complete turmoil, but he didn't want Rachel to know. She had been through so much over the past seven months with Lauren's birth, and all of the problems with Nick. She was such a great Mom, so loving and caring, and he felt so lucky every day to have Rachel as his wife. His love for her was more than he ever thought possible and watching her go through all of this was tearing him apart. He tried to think about all the possibilities about where his son could be, but coming up empty frustrated him and he finally fell into a light, and unrestful sleep.  
  
In the morning the kids still had not turned up. Rachel was so exhausted that Ross finally got her into bed. Then he and Jacob Moore went out to look for Nick and Jessie. They spent the whole day out visiting the kids' friends, and school. Their search turned up nothing except for that both Nick Geller and Jessica Moore were absent from school that day. They went back to Ross' apartment feeling hopeless and dejected. Marie and Rachel could tell by the looks on their faces that the news was not good. For days both families fell into the same cycle. Rachel and Marie not sleeping all night, Ross and Jacob going out all day to search for Nick and Jessie and coming back empty handed.  
  
Monica and Chandler tried to help by bringing over dinner every night and by keeping Travis and Lauren. But Travis was really starting to feel the effects of all that had gone wrong in his family. He was starting to having trouble in school and was lashing out against his parents for attention, any attention. Chandler decided to try and help by taking Travis away on a little fishing trip at the lake for a weekend.  
  
As the days turned into a week, Rachel started to lose what little control she had left. "Why hasn't he called? Why won't he at least let us know that he is safe? He owes us that much, damnit!" She would crumple into Ross' arms every night and sob. It seemed as if Nick Geller and Jessie Moore had completely vanished and did not want to be found by their parents or anyone else.  
  
Nine days after Nick and Jessie disappeared, everyone tried to get back into some sort of routine. Rachel tried to go back to work, and Ross went back to teaching. Travis had come back from his fishing trip with his Uncle but still seemed to need extra attention. Monica and Chandler kept Lauren as much as they could while Rachel was at work so that Lauren wouldn't have be to with strangers. The thought of her daughter being left with strangers totally freaked Rachel out with what had happened with Nick. Rachel and Ross were both exhausted. They worried desperately about Nick, yet tried to appear strong for each other and also give their two remaining children a sense of normalcy and security. Neither of them was entirely sure how long they would be able to hold up.  
  
At about two in the morning eleven days after Nick and Jessie disappeared, there was a strong, urgent knocking on Phoebe's door. She stumbled out of bed half asleep and made her way to the door muttering something about the impatience of aliens and how they could at least wait until it was light outside so she could see if they were really green. What she saw on her doorstep shocked her to her very core. Before her stood Nick Geller, with his arm draped around Jessie Moore.  
  
"Hey, Aunt Phoebe."  
  
"Nicholas Geller! What in the hell is wrong with you? You need to go home right now! Your parents are sick with fright! They are so terrified that something bad has happened to you. Where is your head?"  
  
"Phoebe, wait, please hear me out."  
  
"I won't hear you out until you call your parents and tell them that you are safe. Where in the hell have you been for eleven days? Do you think it is funny that you have scared the wits out of everyone that loves you, both of you?"  
  
Nick interrupted Phoebe with a shocking statement, "Phoebe, we've came here to ask for your help. We didn't know what else to do, no one would listen to Jessie and what she wanted for her daughter. So we took matters into our own hands. Pheebs, Jessie and I are married…….."  
  
  
  
Part Ten coming soon! 


	10. TOW The Unexpected Happens

As always: the characters of FRIENDS do not belong to me.  If they did I would have a LOT more money.

Where we left off:

At about two in the morning eleven days after Nick and Jessie disappeared, there was a strong, urgent knocking on Phoebe's door.  She stumbled out of bed half asleep and made her way to the door muttering something about the impatience of aliens and how they could at least wait until it was light outside so she could see if they were really green.  What she saw on her doorstep shocked her to her very core.  Before her stood Nick Geller, with his arm draped around Jessie Moore.

            "Hey, Aunt Phoebe."

            "Nicholas Geller!  What in the hell is wrong with you?  You need to go home right now! Your parents are sick with fright!  They are so terrified that something bad has happened to you.  Where is your head?"

            "Phoebe, wait, please hear me out."

             "I won't hear you out until you call your parents and tell them that you are safe.  Where in the hell have you been for eleven days?  Do you think it is funny that you have scared the wits out of everyone that loves you, both of you?"

            Nick interrupted Phoebe with a shocking statement, "Phoebe, we've came here to ask for your help.  We didn't know what else to do, no one would listen to Jessie and what she wanted for her daughter.  So we took matters into our own hands.  Pheebs, Jessie and I are married…"

Part Ten:  The One Where The Unexpected Happens 

            Phoebe just stood there looking at them in shock.  "You're what? What?"

            "We're married Aunt Phoebe.  We have been since the night we left."

            "But how? First of all, come in.  Second of all, get on the phone and call your parents before they kill both of you."

            "Before we call them, Aunt Phoebe we really wanted to talk to you." Nick said.  "Can we just sit and talk first?"

            Phoebe sighed.  How she always got brought into the middle of these situations she didn't know.  "Alright, come in and we'll sit down and talk.  But then you ARE calling your parents both of you.  Nick your parents would be very mad at me if they knew I was doing this." Once everyone got settled in on the couch, Phoebe asked, "What the hell were you two thinking?  You can't just run off and get married! You are only 16 years old! What about school? Huh?  And I thought neither of you wanted to be parents. I thought you wanted to give this baby up for adoption.  How did you even get married without your parents' permission?"

            Nick interrupted, "Aunt Phoebe if you'll hush for a minute I'll tell you.  We decided to get married so that we can make decisions for our child.  Jessie is tired of her life being dominated by her parents.  Granted, my parents have been good through this whole situation for the most part, we felt this was the only way to help our little girl. So we found out that in Massachusetts they will let minors get married at age 14 with the permission of a judge.  So we drove into Massachusetts, made a case for the Judge and he granted permission since we are both 16 and Jessie is pregnant.  We got a license and waited for 24 hours and then got married.  So, we are legally married."

            "Your parents are soo not going to like this." Phoebe said.  "You really need to call them now.  God, Nick your Mom is a mess with worrying over you."

            "I know." Nick looked down at the floor in guilt, "I feel real bad.  And I thought about calling her but Jessie and I needed some time to think and plan our future and our baby's.  And we decided that we would still like for you to have her Aunt Pheebs."

            "But if you two are married, how will that work? Why would you get married and then give your baby up for adoption?"

            "If we are married then we can decide who gets our baby without parental input.  We don't have to answer to our parents for our decisions we are totally emancipated."

            "Yeah but then what you will do? Once I keep your daughter?  Then where will that leave both of you?  Do you want to be stuck in an unhappy, teenage marriage? I don't think you thought this through very well, either of you."

            Jessie finally spoke, "We really did think it through.  After the baby is born and the adoption is finalized we can always get an annulment or a divorce.  I am not taking Nick's last name anyway so no one at school will even know.  We have no plans to stay married whatsoever.  We don't love each other, but we do love our little girl and we want her to be happy.  We think she will be happiest with you and we think this the only way that we can ensure that you get to adopt her."

            The three of them sat there in silence for a few minutes.  "Nick, you really do need to go call your parents.  I can't sit here any longer knowing that they are still worried about you.  You need to tell them what is going on.  They deserve to know."

            Nick walked over to the phone and dialed his parents' number.  Phoebe and Jessie could only hear some parts of the phone call but they got the gist that the Ross and Rachel and Jessie's parents would be arriving at Phoebe's place shortly.

            Within thirty minutes The Geller's and The Moore's were sitting in Phoebe's living room.  Rachel had thrown her arms around Nick and sobbed in relief.  Jacob Moore had surprised everyone when he was the one to react very relieved to see his daughter.  "Jessica, I'm so glad that you are alright.  Your Mother and I were very frightened." He put his arm on her shoulder, "Thank God that you are safe."

            When all of the hugs and relief speeches were finished, Nick looked at Jessie and then over at Phoebe.  She nodded her head and Nick began to speak, "Mom, Dad, Mr. and Mrs. Moore, there is something that Jessie and I need to talk to you about.  I would appreciate it if you would hear me all the way out before you start getting all excited and yelling at me."

            Ross looked sternly at him, "Nicholas, what did you do?"

            Nick sighed and continued, "Please Dad, just hear me out.  Alright, well Jessie and I love our little girl so much and all this tension between our families has been killing us.  We want her to have the best parents that she can have.  We want her raised by someone who will love her and give her the best that they can.  That's why we both had agreed that we want Phoebe to raise her and adopt her.  But Mr. Moore you were so resistant to that idea that we felt we had to take matters into our own hands.  We had to make sure that our daughter gets what we feel is best for her.  So we went into Massachusetts and got permission from a judge and then we got married."

            Gasps were heard all around the room followed by silence as the four parents absorbed the shocking information that they had just heard.  Rachel burst into tears.  Ross stormed out of the room angrily.  Mr. Moore sat there glaring at Nick, and Mrs. Moore went and sat down next to Jessie and threw her arms around her sobbing.      

            Rachel looked at Nick with tears streaming down her face, "We have got to find a way to get this fixed.  You two cannot stay married.  You don't love each other; you aren't old enough to be married.  You certainly aren't ready for the responsibilities and hard work that a marriage takes."

            Ross came back into the room, still visibly angry but trying his best to contain his anger and frustration.  "We will just go down to the courthouse in the morning and have them get this marriage annulled.  That is clearly the answer here."

            The other parents all nodded their heads in agreement.  This response from their parents made Jessie even more upset.  "Have any of you not heard anything that we have told you?  We don't want to be treated like babies.  We are capable of making some decisions, with or without your consent.  The Judge thought we were of sound mind and were capable of being good parents. So he agreed to marry us.  Maybe all of you should get your heads out of the clouds and realize that we are not babies any longer!"

            "Jessica," Mrs. Moore began, "None of us are trying to make you feel like you are babies.  We simply want what is best for you and for Nick.  Once your daughter is born and you become a Mom, you will be able to understand this concept more fully.  We just know that this marriage did not happen for the right reasons and it happened with the wrong foundations.  We don't want you in that kind of marriage, sweetie."

            "We have no intentions of staying married, we just want to be married until after the baby is born.  That way we can make sure that she goes where we want her to go.  We don't want our parents deciding for our daughter, we want to do that.  And I am not taking Nick's last name or anything so no one has to know but those of us sitting in this room."

            "But where does this leave your daughter? If you don't plan on keeping your daughter why would you get married?"

            "So that we can choose who we want to adopt her.  We want Phoebe to adopt her.  That is what we want for Phoebe to raise her like she is her own.  And someday when she is ready she can tell her about us.  But we want her to be able to decide these things.  And we want her to have the freedom to be a Mom without two sets of grandparents constantly butting in, trying to help her make all the decisions."

            By this point Phoebe was crying too. "You guys, I'm not sure that I'm worthy of this baby.  She sounds like she has two wonderful parents in you two.  Are you sure that this is what you really want?"

            Jessie went up and hugged her, "Without a doubt.  Phoebe, we want you to adopt our baby."

            Ross looked like he was about to cry.  He took Rachel's hand and led her out of the house onto the front porch.  They sat down next to each other on the steps, both trying to think of the right thing to say in this continuing nightmare.  Finally Rachel spoke, "Ross, sweetie, I think they are right.  I think Nick and Jessie are capable of making this decision."

            "But, Rach, we want the same thing!  Why didn't they just come to us?  Why did they have to run off and ruin their lives by getting married?  Now, they will have to go through a divorce or an annulment.  At such a young age!  It's going to ruin their futures."

            "Ross, I think they really did think this through.  They think they did what is best for this daughter.  You can't fault them for that."  She put her hand gently on his knee, "What we would have done?"

            "You got pregnant before we were married and we didn't run off and get married!"

            Rachel laughed, "Oh, Ross, sweetie, we did so many stupid things.  What about our wedding in Vegas or the whole videotape incident?  And we didn't run off and get married when I got pregnant with Nick because we were adults and we didn't have to.  But we soon realized that we love each other and our son and wanted to be a family.  Now our son has his own family, whether we like it or not.  It's a fact that we will just have to accept."

            Ross smiled at her, "I'm really glad that I married you."  He leaned in and kissed her.

            "And I'm really glad that you knocked me up." She grinned wickedly at him, "Now let's get back inside and see what we can do to help our son."

            After several hours of talking the adults and the young parents-to-be had worked out a solution that everyone could agree with.  Nick and Jessie would live with Phoebe until such time as the baby was born.  Once their daughter was born, Nick and Jessie would move back home to give Phoebe bonding time with the baby.  The kids also agreed to get their marriage annulled immediately so as to prevent having to go through a divorce proceeding after the birth.  Things just seemed to have worked out for everyone involved.  Phoebe busied herself getting a room ready for the baby, and working with her attorney to get the papers drawn up.

            Meanwhile, at the Bing household, things were going pretty quietly.  The girls were happy in school; Taylor was now 13, Madison 14, and Sierra 15.  Madison and Monica were starting to have more and more disagreements and Maddi was becoming more and more distant in her relationship to Chandler as well.  Monica and Chandler both wrote it off as part of adolescence and didn't think anything of it.

            Nick and Jessie settled into life at Phoebe's.  Nick seemed to be more adjusted and his grades went back up in school.  Their marriage was annulled quietly and without incidence.  Jessie was entering her last trimester and going to school was harder for her now, but she still plugged along trying to get in as many classes as she could before she had the baby.

            Ross and Rachel made arrangements to go to a trip to Hawaii following the birth.  They were leaving Travis and Lauren with Monica and Chandler.  They told Nick that if he behaved himself he could stay home by himself, and of course his Aunt and Uncle would check in on him occasionally.  Everyone seemed to be healthy and happy.  For once there was peace and quiet in all the households.

            Until one fateful day, something happened that changed all their lives forever.  One day Madison Bing didn't come home from school.  Monica was in the living room folding laundry when Sierra came through the door. "Hey Mom."

            "Hey Sierra, how was school?"

            "Boring and pointless as always."

            "Sierra!  School is very important for your future."

            "Yeah, yeah, whatever Mom. I'm going to my room to work on my homework.  What's for dinner?"

            "I thought maybe I would make salmon."

            "Again? I guess that will be alright, better than that tortellini stuff that Dad likes."

            "Okay, sweetheart I'll call you for dinner." Monica went back to her laundry.

            About fifteen minutes later, Taylor came running through the door. "Mom!" she cried out.  Monica could immediately sense the panic in her daughter's voice.

            "What is it Taylor? What's the matter?"

            "Madison wasn't on the bus!"

            "What? What do you mean she wasn't on the bus?"

            "Well, I got on the bus she wasn't in her usual seat but I thought maybe she decided to sit in the back with Megan or something.  Sometimes she does that.  But then when the bus stopped in front of our building, she didn't get off the bus."           

            "Oh my God!" Monica started to freak out.  "Sierra!" She screamed for her oldest daughter in such a way that Sierra came tearing out of her room visibly frightened.  "Madison didn't come home from school.  Do you have any idea where she could have gone?"

            "No, Mom. I don't.  Maybe she just went to a friend's house."

            "Well, she didn't ask.  She's not allowed to go over to a friend's house without asking, you guys all know that."

            "Maybe she had tryouts after school.  She's been wanting to try out for the softball team."

            "She didn't tell me about any practices or tryouts."  Monica grabbed her car keys, "Sierra, call your Dad at work.  Tell him to come right home. I'm going to the school."

            "Mom, don't you think you are overreacting just a little bit?  She's probably just fine." Monica barely heard her oldest daughter's words, as she tore out of the house.  She drove down to the middle school where Madison and Taylor both attend.  The school looked almost empty.  Monica ran up the steps and into the office.  The receptionist was able to tell her that Madison was not in school at all that day.  "What? I saw her get on the bus.  How could she have not come to school?"

            "I'm very sorry Mrs. Bing.  I don't know.  The only information that I have is that she was absent from her classes."

            "Were there any tryouts scheduled for after classes today?"

            The receptionist shook her head, "Not that I know of.  They are usually on Thursday or Fridays. Could she perhaps have gone home with a friend?"

            Monica sighed, "I haven't called any of them yet. I wanted to check here first."  Her cell phone rang, "Hello, Hi Chandler.  No she's not at school.  In fact, she didn't go to any of her classes today. I'm really worried. Can you get Taylor to help you and call her friends? I'm going to go to the mall and some of the other places that she likes to go."  Monica thanked the receptionist and left the school.  She was trying really hard not to panic, but it was starting to set in.  Her daughter was missing.  How could this be happening?  They had just gone through this with Nick.  It wasn't fair that this family should have to go through something like this again. Once was enough to kill them all.  


	11. TOW The Sun Doesn't Shine

A/N: I am sorry for the terribly long time lapse between updates.  I was suffering from writer's block for a while and my current new ER obsession has left me with very little time for Friends fics.  I do want to do this, my first and my most popular fic, justice by at least finishing it.  So, thank you for still maintaining interest in it.  As always, the characters of Phoebe, Ross, Joey, Rachel, Monica and Chandler do not belong to me.  If they did, Ross and Rachel would already be married on the show.

So much happened in the previous chapter.  Nick and Jessie's marriage was annulled.  They moved in with Phoebe to prepare for the birth of their baby.  Ross and Rachel decided to take a trip to Hawaii.  On a serious note, Madison Bing never came home from school and her parents were frantically looking for her when we left off.

Part Eleven:  TOW The Sun Doesn't Shine

The sun wasn't shining at all.  The sky was dark and covered with black clouds.  There was no promise of sun even peeking in through the blackness.  Somehow it seemed appropriate that the sun wouldn't shine on a day like today.

Rachel stood looking at the window, "What a bleak day it is outside.  It's the perfect picture of how all of us feel today."

Ross laid his hand on her shoulder, "I know.  Come on Rach.  We don't want to be late."

"I don't think I can go."

"Rach, we've discussed this.  We have to go."

"Ross, I don't think I can handle it.  Just knowing that the same thing could have happened to Nick almost tears my heart out.  I feel so guilty every time I look Monica in the eye.  She lost her daughter, and I kept my son.  It's so unfair, so heartless, so selfish of me to be glad that my son is alive."

"Monica doesn't blame you for what happened to Madison.  Nor does she want us to feel guilty, or keep our distance because of this.  Monica loves us, all of us.  She is in a tremendous amount of pain right now, and this would be the wrong time to abandon her.  I think us not going to the funeral would only deepen her pain and her sense of loss.  We need to go Rachel, if for nothing else than just as a sign that we love all of them dearly and that we support them.  They are going to need us so much over the next few months as the healing process begins.  Neither Monica nor Chandler has ever failed us when we needed them.  Now it's our turn to return the favor."

Rachel smiled a bleak smile at her husband and kissed him lightly, "I hate it, but you're right.  I'll be ready in five minutes."

The church was packed out.  As Ross and Rachel struggled to find a seat, Ross caught Chandler waving to them down in the front.  Ross and Rachel slid in between Chandler and Sierra grateful for the seat.  Rachel hadn't really wanted to sit upfront in the family section, but this was her and Ross' niece and Monica and Chandler obviously wanted them to so she sat quietly holding Ross' hand and trying to keep the tears that were already forming in her eyes at bay.

The minister came to the front of the church and began, "We are here today to celebrate the life of Madison Noelle Bing.  Maddi was a girl full of love, energy, and life.  She always had something charming or witty to say, and her laugh could light up a room.  I know that all those who knew her and loved her will deeply miss her.  Sometimes it is hard to understand why something so tragic could happen to someone so young, so beautiful, so full of life…."

As the minister went on talking Rachel glanced over at Monica.  Monica sat with tears streaming down her face; the sobs were wracking her body.  Rachel mouthed, "I love you," to Monica.  All Monica could do was nod her head in response.  

After the funeral service, Ross and Rachel rode in the limo with Monica, Chandler, and the girls to the graveside.  No one really talked, everyone just sat quietly, each lost in his or her own thoughts and memories of Madison.  Remembering what she had meant to each of them, how she had touched their lives, made them laugh, or had made them feel special.  Sierra and Taylor were obviously devastated by the death of their sister, as neither of them had stopped crying since the day they had found Madison's body.  Rachel's heart broke watching all of them.  Once again the feelings of guilt began to wash over her, remembering her husband's words earlier, Rachel swallowed hard and prepared herself to be there again for Chandler and Monica.

Just as they stepped out of the limousine, the rain that had threatened to pour all day began to come down.  How oddly appropriate, Rachel couldn't help but think as they made their way over to the coffin that held the body of her niece.  How could the heavens do anything but cry over the loss of such a beautiful young soul?  They all stood there huddled in the rain, the tears that poured down all of their faces mixing with the rain that fell hard upon them.  And there they said their final goodbyes to Madison Noelle Bing.  A dearly loved daughter, sister, niece, granddaughter, and friend.  Everyone who knew her was touched.  Everyone who knew her was blessed.  And nothing would ever be the same without her.  

At the funeral dinner, Monica finally broke down.  She sat there watching all of her family eat, talking, and trying to get on with life.  Suddenly, she jumped from her seat knocking her chair to the ground.  The room grew silent at the commotion the chair hitting the tiled floor made.  "What is wrong with you people? How can you eat? How can you talk? How can you pretend like nothing is wrong here? My baby is dead! She is dead! They are out there right now burying her in the cold, hard ground.  Do any of you even care?" And with that piece said, she collapsed on the floor.  Chandler tried to help her up, but Monica wouldn't let him. She just lay there sobbing, and pounding her fists against the floor.  She was wishing that this would all go away. That she would wake up and this would be someone else's nightmare, and not hers.  Rachel got up from her place at the table. She walked over to where Monica was laying and knelt down beside her.

"Hey Mon. Come on. Let's go in the other room."  At first Monica was resistive but she finally let Rachel lead her into a sitting room.  Rachel sat down next to her friend on a small couch.  For several minutes they were both silent.  Rachel laid her hand on Monica's shoulder, "Monica, God, I wish I could take your pain from you right now. I'm not even going to pretend to understand the depth of your devastation.  But I will tell you that I care.  I'm here for you anytime of the day or night. I love you Monica. And I'm sorry, so sorry that you lost your daughter." Rachel was crying now.  Monica threw her arms around Rachel and the two friends just sat there for a long time crying on each other's shoulders.  Rachel couldn't bear Monica's pain, but she could hold her while she cried.  Only time would help heal Monica's broken heart.  They would all have to be patient as the healing process worked itself out.

In the dining room Chandler came and sat down next to Ross.  He was choking back tears as he spoke, "It means a lot to us that you are here."

"You know we would never abandon you at a time like this.  We love you, Monica, and the girls so much, Chandler.  And we loved Madison.  We are so sorry that she's gone.  I wish there was something else we could do to help.  I wish we could share the pain with you, lessen it or even take it away."

Chandler hugged Ross tight.  "Families have to take the good and the bad.  This is definitely the bad.  But we will get through this.  Right now, I have no idea where we will get the strength, or even the desire to go on.  But somehow we will go on.  We will always have a hole in our hearts that will never be filled now.  But hopefully in time, we will be able to smile again, to laugh again, and to live the way Maddi would want us to. It will be the hardest thing that any of us have ever done."

Phoebe interrupted their conversation, "Jessie's in labor. Nick is taking her to the hospital."

"Now?" Chandler asked. "Monica won't be able to handle that right now."

"I'll go get Rachel, and you can take over with Monica.  If you guys want to come to the hospital, come and if you're not ready we will understand.  Please understand that Rachel and I have to go though."

"Of course I understand." Ross and Chandler went to find their wives.  Ross put his hand silently on Rachel's shoulder and motioned for her to follow him.  Chandler sat down next to his wife and drew her into his arms.  

Ross led Rachel to the car.  "Where are we going?" Rachel asked she was obviously upset, confused, and emotionally exhausted.

"To the hospital.  Jessie is in labor."

"Right now? Oh God, Ross I don't think I can take anything else today."

"Our granddaughter, for whatever reason, has picked today to grace us with her presence.  Perhaps having a baby around will help all of us heal." 

Rachel leaned her head against the window.  She watched the rain pelt down the windshield.  "Maybe." Right now it was hard to imagine anything could ease this pain for any of them.


	12. TOW The Sunshine After the Rain

A/N: Again, I'm sorry for the long delays in continuing this fic.  I've decided to make this the last chapter, it's becoming too hard for me to continue it and this seems like a really good place to stop it.  Thank you to all of you who waited so patiently for the end and read and reviewed this story over the years.  This was my very first fan fiction ever and it was so much fun to write.   I want to dedicate this chapter to my late friend Beth, who always encouraged me when I would get stuck on this fic.  I know she would be so proud of me for finally finishing it.  

In the last chapter:

Ross led Rachel to the car.  "Where are we going?" Rachel asked she was obviously upset, confused, and emotionally exhausted.

"To the hospital.  Jessie is in labor."

"Right now? Oh God, Ross I don't think I can take anything else today."

"Our granddaughter, for whatever reason, has picked today to grace us with her presence.  Perhaps having a baby around will help all of us heal." 

Rachel leaned her head against the window.  She watched the rain pelt down the windshield.  "Maybe." Right now it was hard to imagine anything could ease this pain for any of them.

Part Twelve:  The One With The Sunshine After The Rain

When they got to the hospital, Ross and Rachel went into the waiting room.  Jessie's Mom, Phoebe, and Nick were in the room with Jessie.  Nick came out into the waiting room at regular intervals to give them updates.    Ross and Mr. Moore spent the next several hours pacing up and down the halls.  Rachel sat in a large, overstuffed chair leafing through the same magazine over and over, not really paying attention to any of the words printed on the page.  Her mind kept wandering to the events of the day; Madison's funeral, and Monica's breakdown at the funeral dinner.  Her heart was so heavy for her friend.  She knew she should be happy about the impending birth of her first grandchild, but the sorrow her heart was experiencing would not allow her to rejoice.

At long last, Nick came through the doors with a big smile on his face.  "She's here!  The baby is here!  She is the most beautiful thing I've ever laid my eyes on.  She has a head full of dark hair.  She looks a little bit like Jessie and a little bit like me.  Phoebe went with her to get cleaned up.  I'm going to get back to Jessie."  Nick took off back down the hallway.

Ross walked over to Rachel, "Congratulations, Grandma." He gave her a hug.  "That was one very excited young man."  Rachel managed a weak smile, Ross put his arm around her and they sat back down to wait.

After a little while, Rachel went in to sit with Jessie and Nick.  Phoebe came in holding the baby.  Phoebe smiled at Rachel and placed the little girl in her arms, "Angelica Madison Buffay meet your Grandma."  As soon as Rachel looked down at the little sleeping baby she began to cry.  This little girl looked so much like Nick.  And Phoebe was so sweet to name her after their beloved Madison.  The tears poured down her face and Phoebe just sat next to her rubbing her shoulder.  "Rach, isn't she beautiful?"

"Yes, she is." Rachel said through her tears, "I feel so guilty sitting here crying like this, but this has just been such an emotional day."

"A mix of happy and sad." Jessie said.  "Kind of like life I guess."

Rachel smiled at Jessie, "Yes, Jessie, kind of like life."  At that moment they heard a knock on the door.  

Monica peeked her head in, "May I come in?" She asked softly.  Her eyes were red and her cheeks were stained with tears, but she tried to look happy as she stood in the doorway.

"Sure, Mon. Come in and meet your little great niece.  Her name is Angelica Madison." At the mention of the name Madison Monica's eyes filled with tears.  "I hope it's okay that I used that name.  I thought it was fitting with how much Maddi was looking forward to the baby and everything."  Phoebe explained.

"Oh, Phoebes.  I think it's a wonderful tribute to her.  Thank you so much."  Monica hugged her friend.  Rachel joined in the hug and they all stood and cried together.

Over the next several months, Angelica proved to be the healing balm that everyone needed.  Phoebe was a wonderful Mother; she doted on the baby, devoting herself to giving the baby everything.  Nick and Jessie went back to school.  And though of course they were no longer dating, they remained very close friends.  Chandler and Monica were still trying to sort out their grief.  Monica would sometimes still withdraw to grieve, but she spent as much time as possible with little Angelica.  Sierra and Taylor were beginning to live like normal teenagers again, and though they missed their sister terribly they were starting to get some of their old spunk back.  Sierra was actively dating again, and Taylor was once again cracking sarcastic comments at just the right times.  They both always jumped at the chance to baby-sit for Angelica.

Ross and Rachel's life was also starting to get back to normal.  Travis and Lauren were filling their days with comfortable, familiar routine.  Lauren celebrated her first birthday, and shortly thereafter, learned to walk.  She started getting into everything, which made for some very long days at the Geller household.  Ben and Cortland got married, and weren't long in making an announcement that they were expecting a baby of their own.  Ross and Rachel were overjoyed at the news that they would again be grandparents.  This time, the baby would enter the world under a little happier circumstances.  But it would be no less loved.  Ross and Rachel also celebrated their wedding anniversary with a trip to Hawaii.

On their last night in Hawaii, they sat on the beach at sunset holding hands.  "Oh, Ross look at how beautiful it is out here."

"It really is.  I can't believe how fast this week went by."

"I can't believe how fast life has gone by.  I mean a year ago, our lives were totally different.  We've overcome so much in the last year.  I'm so glad that we had each other to lean on.  I don't know how I ever would have made it without you."

"I love you Rachel.  I don't know how any of us could have made it through without the love of close friends and family.  When the going gets tough you have to know the people you can count on.  And I think we all realized just how much we mean to each other.  And I realized that I love you even more than I ever have. I would marry you all over again.  I would take every part of our life over again, and do it the exact same way in a heartbeat.  That's how much I love you and the life that we've made together."

"Oh, Ross."  Rachel put her hand lovingly on his cheek, "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

He leaned in and kissed her, "You fell in love with me."

They sat together enjoying the breeze from the ocean and the sand beneath them.  Right now, it was just the two of them alone in the world.  As the sun faded into the horizon, they watched nestled in each other's arms.  They knew that tomorrow would bring another day, and they could greet the new day and meet it's challenges with confidence because they would always have each other.

THE END


End file.
